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Media Platforms Design Team Let’s face it: All pickup trucks don’t necessarily have to tow 10,000 pounds, use body-on-frame construction and wear a heavy, solid axle in the rear. That stuff adds a lot of weight. And with the new 35-mpg fuel economy standard looming over them, automakers will need to offer smaller, lighter trucks for those consumers that don’t absolutely need heavy hauling capability. So the radical-looking GMC Denali XT Hybrid Concept is, we believe, a glimpse into the future of the General Motors truck fleet, at least in some form....

Ford Explorer Sport Trac: Half SUV/Half PickupIt looks suspiciously like the old model, but the ‘07 Explorer Sport Trac really is all new.Frankly, Ford’s Explorer Sport Trac had gotten tired. With a platform dating back to the late ’90s, its ride now seemed jiggly and its handling was far from sporty. Enter the 2007 model with a modern four-wheel independent suspension, an optional 292-hp V8 mated to a six-speed automatic, and a chassis that’s a whopping 444 percent stiffer....

Media Platforms Design TeamITHACA, N.Y. — After months of planning and analysis, the goals of our Automotive X Prize team (now more than 70 people strong) are finally taking shape—the shape of a Geo Metro, to be exact. Based on analysis done by our various experts here at Cornell, we decided over the summer to create a mainstream, four-passenger, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). And the Geo Metro we’ve just acquired will be the mule car on which we’ll test our ideas....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Popular Mechanics iPad app has been updated with our April 2011 issue. It’s now live in the App Store, a year to the week (or so) after the iPad was let loose last April 3, and just a couple of weeks since the iPad2 was released. (I’m still waiting for the IT department to deliver one to our floor.) Many months into the tablet age, PopMech remains almost unique among magazine iPad apps in that it’s coded by our in-house programmers using Objective-C, the native language of iOS app development....

Media Platforms Design TeamAt CES, we got to test drive the next-generation Nintendo console, the Wii U. We were cautioned by Nintendo’s public relations crew that the games we played were in no way indicative of what will eventually come out at launch, and the hardware, which seemed pretty finished to me, could still go through significant changes.That hardware consists of two new elements, an updated console that—finally—supports HD resolutions, and a controller (which is at this point simply referred to as “the new controller”) that has the potential to completely change how we play videogames....

Star Trek 3, as it is still being called, could be huge hit when it boldly goes to theaters in 2016. It could be junk, but still make a killing. Or it could stink and flop. No one wants that, not even Star Wars fans. Regardless of the outcome, there’s one thing you can bank on: The Star Trek franchise will live on once this movie trilogy is over, and the obvious place for it to go is television....

Apple Ready for Touch-Screen All the Way?Less than two months after it announced a recall of fire-hazardous lithium-ion batteries from Sony in its laptops, Apple admitted this morning that a small fraction of Video iPods are carrying a “Windows virus.” But have no fear: basic anti-virus programs should root out the worm, and the iPod-to-top-all-iPods looks like it’ll be ready for the holidays. A day after reports about the company patenting the moniker “iPhone” worldwide got the Apple rumor mill brewing again, (very unconfirmed) word is now surfacing that a touch-screen, full-panel iPod with six gigs and maybe even high-def will roll out with Steve Jobs’ next big announcement in December....

Media Platforms Design TeamIf you’ve been to an upscale bar or restaurant lately, you’ve probably noticed that bartenders are paying a lot more attention to ice, from the size and shape of the cube to the ingredients. The so-called artisanal-ice movement is in full swing. The name is a little stuffy, but it’s easy to get behind anything that improves your cocktail. So, what exactly is the point of those chiseled cubes and tennis balls of ice?...

Media Platforms Design TeamMarksmanship doesn’t come easy. Soldiers and athletes alike spend countless hours learning to intuit the absurd calculus of hitting a moving target with a tiny, flying piece of metal. But with homing bullets like DARPA’s EXACTO round, anyone might be able to cheat their way to the same level of skill. DARPA has talked about its Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance before year, explaining that the bullets ability to curve in mid-flight could help it take out well-covered snipers and even showing off video of the feat....

Media Platforms Design TeamThis week, scientists at the University of Tokyo announced a discovery that threatened to break China’s control over the world’s supply of rare-earth metals, used to build electronics: They found the metals in vast expanses of mud on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in 78 sites. Predictably, the news made a worldwide media splash. A close look at the deep-sea mining industry, however, suggests that miners in China will not be out of work soon....

Media Platforms Design TeamAnd so the rift between Apple and Google grows: Among the native apps in Monday’s release of a new beta version of Apple’s iOS mobile operating system, , an app native to Apple’s iPhone software since it launched in 2007. Because Apple’s license to include the app in iOS expired, the company can no longer offer YouTube as one of the apps that comes bundled with system apps....

Before the big one hitsFurniture: Use wall straps and museum putty, such as those sold by QuakeHold, to secure valuables and stabilize tall furniture. Head injuries caused by falling objects are a common trauma.Emergency Kit: Companies such as Ready America and SOS Survival Products sell kits, but it’s often cheaper to compile your own. Use a weatherproof container, such as a plastic garbage can, to store supplies, including a battery- or hand-powered radio (some double as cellphone chargers), flashlights, spare batteries, canned food, a manual can opener, first-aid supplies, and plenty of heavy-duty trash bags....

Media Platforms Design Team CHICAGO—Back in 1989, the first generation 220-hp Ford Taurus SHO (Super High Output) was an exceptionally quick and desirable sedan—as was the 1992-to-1995 second-gen. But ever since the third-gen V8-powered SHO lost steam in 1999, those three little letters have been absent from the Ford product portfolio. Well, now the SHO is back. And it’s coming at the same time as the standard-issue 2010 Taurus—this spring. The Taurus SHO will be the first Ford-branded product to use the company’s new gasoline turbocharged direct-injection (GTDI) engine, the EcoBoost....

Media Platforms Design TeamPHOENIX, Ariz.—Has the definition of leadership in the heavy-duty/super-duty truck segment changed since the last time Ford, Chevrolet/GMC, and Dodge brought out new truck bruisers? Make no mistake: Horsepower, torque, towing and payload are still the primary fields of battle for winning over ranchers, construction workers and contractors. But we can add another event to the heavy-duty Olympics, according to those customers—fuel economy. That’s right. Even with gas and diesel comfortably below $3....

Media Platforms Design TeamLuxury isn’t the first word that comes to mind when we think of the $43,920 Ford Raptor, but a just-announced Special Edition version of the voracious offroader aims to up the plush quotient for adventure-seeking truck owners. The newest variant offers ruby red exterior paint and box side graphics complemented by red seat bolsters, cloth honeycomb highlights, and unique center stack and door panel trim. An MSRP won’t be announced until closer to the truck’s on-sale date this Fall, but the package will most certainly be saddled with a significant premium....

Nate BeckerDog Musher, Eagle, AlaskaAfter spending his twenties and early thirties as a firefighter and paramedic in Wyoming and, later, for the National Park Service in the Grand Canyon, Becker moved to Eagle—a town with a population of 86—in 2008 to lead dog-sledding trips in the backcountry with Bush Alaska Expeditions. Here, he shares his survival rules.GearAlways take a sleeping bag. You never know when you’ll get stuck out and have to spend the night or just need a quick warm-up....

The Northern Lights are slated to be especially dramatic this week thanks to a spew of charged particles pouring out of a hole in the sun’s outer atmosphere. The aurora borealis will be most active on Monday, November 2, with the spectacle potentially visible low on the horizon as far south as Oklahoma City, OK and Raleigh, NC. Farther north, more dramatic displays will be visible, weather permitting, with potential shows continuing throughout the week....

When it comes to outdoor power equipment, we’re diehard gas engine types at Popular Mechanics. There’s just no getting around the energy density of liquid fuel. And when you burn liquid fuel in an efficient engine, you make a tremendous amount of torque available through the engine’s driveshaft.But battery-powered yard machines are closing the torque gap between themselves and engine-driven equipment. It’s much like what we saw happen with cordless drills and saws....

If Porsche can build a four-door sedan based on one of its sport coupe models, why not Ford? Well, it might: Ford unveiled its idea of a Mustang-based sedan to public view today.But, remember, this is still a concept and not really in the development or production pipeline. Ford calls it Interceptor, taking the name from police-special cars that Ford built in past years. While the body is all sedan and the grille follows the company formula of three horizontal bars, there is a certain look of Mustang in its overall appearance....

Media Platforms Design TeamFord Motor Company recently announced they would be changing over from larger, naturally aspirated engines to smaller ones using single or twin turbochargers and intercooling systems with direct fuel injection. In Ford speak, that’s Gasoline Turbocharged Direct injection (GTDi). In direct fuel injection engines, the fuel is shot under high pressure directly into each cylinder’s combustion chamber by an injector positioned near the spark plug. In contrast, many of today’s systems the fuel is injected into the intake tract behind the intake valves....